Aerial machine



AERIAL MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 28,19I6- RENEWED NOV. 25,19I8- Patented July 8, 1919. l

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AERIAL MACHINE. APPLICATION man JULY ze, |916. RENEwED Nov. 25. 191B. 1,309,152.

Patented July 8, 1919.

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AERIAL MACHINE. I APPLICATION FILED JULY 28.1916. RENEWED NOV. 25| 191B. 1,309,152.

Patented J lily 8, 1919. 3 SHLETS-SHEET 3. 260

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WILLIAM PAIN, F LITTLEROCK, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO JOHN N'ICHOLIS, ONE-FOURTH T0 SELTINO LAZZURI, AND ONE-FOURTH T0 ANGELO LAZZURI, ALL OF SEATTLE, \'ASHIl\TG-TON.v

AERIAL MACHINE.

Application. led-July 28, 1916, Serial No. 111.837.

To all whemt may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM PAIN, a Asubject of the King of England, residing at Littlerock, in the county of Thurston and State of lVashington, have invented certain i., new and useful Improvements in Aerial Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to aerial machines;

and its object is the perfecting of apparatus of this class so as to combine 'the advantages of both the aeroplane and helicopter types and thereby enable the machine to be primarily elevated from the. earth in a. substantially vertical direction and thence be driven in horizontal or inclined directions by means of driving propellers while being sustained through the oflices of a lifting propeller and the planes provided therefor -Y in the machine.

A further object is the provision of im'- proved regulating and guiding devices whereby the machine may be conveniently controlled as to its pose or bala-nce and as to its direction of flight. lVith these and other ends in view. the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of devices as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a longitudinal-vertical section of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a view in a horizontal section taken through 2-2 of Fig. 1 and with a portion of the plane next below broken away. Fig. 3 is a front eleva- Fig. 4 is a detail sectional tional view. view illustrating the preferred form of step bearing for the shaft of the lifting proeller. Fig. 5 is a sectional view through 5-``5 of Fig. 1.

The reference numerals 6 designate upright members and 7, the floor members of the machine frame which are joined and .braced inany suitable manner. Supported by'said frame are planes 8 and 9 which are inclined upwardly toward the front to afford a lifting effect in flight. A third rela.--

tively fixed and inclined plane 10 is provided below the plane 9 and serves as a platform for the motors, power transmission devices, etc.

In'addition to the aforesaid planes supplementary adjustable planes, 11, 12, and

e 13 are employed therewith.v The plane 11,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July S, 1919.

Renewed November 25, 1918. Serial No. 264,129.

disposed at the rear, is rotatable about a vertical axis and constitutes the main rud der. The planes 12 which also serve a` rudders are disposed to turn on vertical axes, being hingedly connected to opposite sides of the frame. The last named planey are preferably disposed near thefront of the machine, as best shown in Fig. 2. and to the rear of such planes. are positioned the other planes 13. These planes are mounted upon horizontal axes and are movable into selected rotar \v positions according to .the direction in which the machine is"'to travel and are primarily designed to regulate the pose or trim of the machine.

lVhen ascending in a substantially vertical direct-ion the planes 13 would be regulated to be vertical or nearly .so as shown b v full lilies in Fig. 2 but when the machine .is being propelled forwardly. the referred to planes are accordingly adjusted as indicated by broken lines 13 in the view to eooperate with the main planes of the machine. The planes 13 may be individually regulated as will be presently explained to maintain the lateral balance of the machine or to cause one or the other side to be elevated to a greater height as may be deemed advantageous when moving in a curve. The rudder 11 is controlled by tiller lines 15 passing about suitable guide pulleys such as 16 to the drum 17 of a steering wheel. The other planes 12 and 13 are in like manner controlled by lines 121 and 131 from drums 122 and 132 through the agency of manually operated wheels 123 and 133.

16() represents driving propellers mounted in front of the machine frame upon substantially horizontal shafts 170 in axial alinement withv the shafts 18 of motors 19 and intermediate shafts 20 for the respective propeller and motor shafts. 21 represents clutches provided for operatively coupling the respective motor shafts to the associated intermediate shafts and to couple the latter with the propeller shafts 170 I provide clutches 23. The movable elements of the various clutches are arranged to be shifted into and out of engagement with the other clutch elements in any suitable manner as, for example, by levers 24 actuated through the medium of connecting rods 25 from cperating levers 26 disposed within convenient reach of the operator.

The motors 19 also ,ss rvc to drive a lifting propeller 260 secured to the upper end of an upright shaft 27 and ,above the uppermost ofv the planes so that when in operation the suspended weight will have the effect of avpendulum which tends to obtain a vertical position. More particularly, the shaft 27 is driven through the medium of beveled gears 28 and 429 from transversely arranged shafts 30 which, in turn, are driven through by bevel gears 31 and 32 from the intermediate Shafts A20.

y Said bevel gears are loosely mounted on the respective shafts and upon occasion are coupled therewith by clutches 33, one partof each being secured to the respective gears and the complementary parts splined to the shafts. 34 represents shifting levers for t-he splined clutch elements which are actuated by connecting rods 35 from operating levers 36.

. it is apparent that the lifting and driving propellers may be rotated in unison or independently from both motors or they in like manner may be driven from either motor, which is an importanty advantage in case one or both of the motors become deranged or other wise unserviceable. thermore the lifting propeller may be driven by one or both of the motors simultaneously The various shafts of the machine are pro-l vided with anti-friction bea-rings, the preferred forni for such bearing of the lower end of the lifting propeller shaft being illustrated in Fig. 4. CAs shown, the shaft terminates in an oblatc spheroidal extremity which is interposed between series of balls 41 and 42 operating in a base 48 which is By use of the above eX plained system of shafting and couplings,

fixedly secured to the machine frame or the plane 10 therefor, and a rotary plate 44.' This plate distributes the' strain d'ue to the upward thrust of the lifting propeller through 'the agency of balls 45 toan annular plate `46 which is secured to the 43.

The useof the spheroidal shaped extremity 40 with the bearing'balls above and below the same affords, in effect, a balland-socket joint with sufficient flexibility to compensate for any relative movements'likely to occur to the structure of tl'ie machine when in use'.

The central plane .9 is intended to be utilized as a platform to be occupied by the I crew and for carrying supplies, cargo or equlpment such, for example, as .ordnance pieces mdicated by thenumeral 48.

. .The operation of the v invention, will, it is throught, be understood from the foregoing i *I Y, I Y 70 description. lVhat I claim is:

. 1. .In a machine of the class described,v

having a series of'superposed planes, a lifting propeller, 'and a substantially vert-icalshaft for said propeller, of means provided on said shaft and connected with the ma; chine structure, whereby the latter issup-2 ported from in proximity to its lower plane y the lower endof the shaft, and means to rotate thel propeller. t f

2. Ina machine of the class described, a pair of drivingfpropellers rotatable on horizontal'axes, a. 1

pellers, a pair of motors, shafts thereing propellers, )bevel gear connection be- -tweenthe shaft forthe lifting propeller ando. said intermediateI shafts, and coupling de vices provided on the various shafts where A ting propel-ler rotatable on a vertical axis, shafts for the respective pro' for, intermediate Ishafts between the motor j shafts and the respective shafts of the driv by anyv of the propellers may be rotated by' i either motor' while the remaining propel`A 1ers are rendered inoperative.

Signed at Seattle, Washington, the 22dday of July 1916.

. WILLIAM PAIN.

Witnesses: y a

PIERRE BARNES, JAMES E. SPRoLL. 

